I am not a coffee drinker. I don’t like the smell or the taste. (I am however told, that the latter does not necessarily cause the former)
This being said… I missed the entire $tarbuck$ revolution. I am being edumacated slowly by a very, VERY patient elocinnuala. Yesterday, I learned what a 20 oz Americana with split shots is.
But, still, there are certain games I just can’t play. I like the idea of:
Small, Medium, and Large. I’m even okay with going beyond large and small.
Granted.. if you have an even number of sizes… drop the medium.
But… things like “Venti”… No, I just have a problem using arbitrary language to sound fashionable. I didn’t use “Moi”, I didn’t get into Le Car…
Descriptive adjectives shouldn’t be turned into marketing terms.
After dealing with one truly Perky barista who told me that 20oz was Venti, this morning.. I sat in the car. I said to shimmeringjemmy
No, Venti isn’t a size. Venti is what moves the air-y through the house-y.
Which is amusing and ironic concerning one of the last pearls or writing I read last night. (Yes, I’m reading a book, try not to faint)
Quoth YT in SnowCrash: (Book, Text)
“It’s like, if you — people of a certain age — would make some effort to just stay in touch with sort of basic, modern-day events, then your kids wouldn’t have to take these drastic measures.”
Why, yes.. I am trying to post more often and substantially.
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Preach on, brother! I absolutely refuse to use the cutesy terms, not just at the ‘buck$, but at Coldstone (Like it, Love it, Gotta have it . . . WTF!?)
I’d like a small, please.
You mean, a ‘Like it’?
No, I mean a small.
Oh, our sizes are . . .
I know what you call them, but I’m ordering a small. I’ll but a small, but I won’t buy a “like it”, you call it whatever you want, but I’m ordering a small – you can fill my order or not based on whether or not you ant my business, but I’m ordering a small.
Uh . . . OK.
Oh, and what’s up with shifting from “Small, Medium, and Large” to “Medium, Large, and Extra Large”. Are we in such a super-sized culture that small has become entirely irrelevant on principle? If there are still three sizes, then recalibrate and make “Small, Medium, and Large” each that much larger . . . sheesh!
See also
Post from 01.12.02: Domino’s can’t size
Post from 04.01.15: Domino’s STILL can’t size
From http://www.illwillpress.com/vault.html, check the bottom-right link, titled “Small, Medium, Large” 😉
!sound !nsfw rant!
Yes, I was looking to see if someone else had posted this link yet. First thing I thought of when seeing this post.
I just don’t play stupid size names. I just say ‘small’, ‘medium’, and ‘large’. I don’t recall any cashier’s giving me lip about it either, though sometimes I start off my order by saying I don’t use silly size names so they’re expecting the small/large/whatever when it comes.
*Grins* reminds me of an arbitrary comment I made to this weekend that if you ever pissed me off, I was going to send her up on the drive to Bothell with a Grande Mocha in hand. 🙂
Yes, I too have noticed the vanity sizing reaching out to the food service industry. I noticed this at the movies first. Since when has a Medium pop ever been 40oz? Heaven forbid we ever flip it around and start calling a large an extra large. People might think they are getting short changed….
Its no wonder people have issues with portion control and such.
All in the name of marketing.
Now we just need to start marketing diabetes with some sort of upspin. Maybe with rhinestone encrusted hot pink blood test bags. That’ll get’m on board.
Now we just need to start marketing diabetes with some sort of upspin. Maybe with rhinestone encrusted hot pink blood test bags. That’ll get’m on board.
Thank you!
I rather enjoy the smell and taste of coffee, and I’ll drink whatever I can get. I’m also a barista (aka girl at the coffee shop) by night, and the sizing drives both the customers and myself up the wall. Luckily it’s a humble university coffee shop, not somewhere trendy, but we still have the stupid “upsizing.”
12 oz Medium
16 oz Large
20 oz Grande
I usually know what they mean, but I’ve been known to ask if it’s “this medium (holding up the cup) or the one in the middle” which usually gets a good laugh. I’ve only heard “venti” once, and I tried to look stern before I laughed and asked if that’s the largest one.
Outside, I ask for a “huge honkin’ cup of coffee” if the sizes are wonky. I’ll need to caffeine to put up with the hip kids these days.
I also hate HATE the tall, grande, venti thing. But the funny thing is that Venti is the only one that makes sense (it’s 20 oz, so, Venti). Tall isn’t. Grande is hardly.
Venti literally translates into ’20’, something I could never figure out until you pointed out that it’s 20 oz. So when you order a ‘Venti’, you’re ordering a “20”.
*sigh*
I agree; I want to order a “large”, and I’ll often do so when I’m ordering at Starbucks. Perhaps in the future I’ll try ordering a “twenty” and see what the guy behind the counter does…
The way I was told it was this:
Originally Starbucks only had two sizes: Short and Tall (8oz and 12oz). They then added “Grande” (16oz) meaning “Large” for people who wanted more than the 12oz (and it is the “large” size, since the “small” and “medium” are called “short” and “tall”). Last was “Venti” (20oz) which means “Twenty” for people who wanted more than a Grande. And yes, we’re speaking Italian. After all it is italian coffee drinks you’re ordering: Latte, Cappucino, Espresso, etc. So, actually, I guess “short” and “tall” are the two “out of place” sizes…
About the same time Venti appeared, Short dropped off their menu. You can still get it though, and order it that way, it will just be billed as a “kiddie” size.
Interesting to know about the short. Makes it less nuts, I wonder if I could order a ‘short’ maybe sometime I’ll try. I don’t think I’ve seen ‘kiddie’ size on the menu either.
“Venti” is ITALIAN.
“moi” and “le car” are FRENCH.
Oh, I know that…
I’ve just never been a fan of randomly throwing in any random language for character unless there is no translation.
Sushi, Karaoke… sure…
But 20.. is 20.
Friends don’t let friends drink $tarbuck$. Period. End of story.
Learning about coffee by drinking Starbucks is like learning to swim by looking at a picture of a pool.
You only believe coffee is bitter because bad coffee–including Starbucks–is bitter. Ignore the hype and follow the Way, my son.
I was directed to your experience by a similar size-of-coffee discussion in‘s journal. I’ve been paying my rent by making coffee for over ten years. I’ve done time in independant shops and corporate java. The Mighty Siren has been my caffienated mistress for eight years. I can tell you from experience that the good baristas know what you mean when you use standard descriptors for size and don’t feel any compulsion to correct most folks. The original 8 oz short went off the menu boards around ’99 or ’00. Nobody ever mentions that Seattle’s Best battled the “venti” (twenty ounces) with the “Grande Supremo” which always sounded more silly to me.